


Chain Of Memories

by AloneShadow



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: ...that was a sad joke, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Goodbye, Hurt Tony Stark, Memories, Revisiting CA- The First Avenger, Steve Rogers Angst, Time Travel, a possible AU, adding something here and there, and ghosts, enjoy the flight, little plot twist, messing with the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 17:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10469904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: What would happen if during his life in the '40s, Steve had a special, weird friend making him company?





	

**Author's Note:**

> That lovely moment when the rest of the family (not really Marvel fans) slowly stop by to watch CA-The First Avenger on tv, and you're hit with an idea and furiously start writing a fic while everyone is there crying at the end of the movie...

Steve Rogers never thought of himself as a stupid kid. Not once. 

Naïve, maybe, a bit reckless, sometimes not exactly a man of culture, but stupid? No.   
That was why he started to think of the worst: maybe he had to add hallucinations in his nice diseases’ list to present at the war recruitment points because, really, all the sickness he already had weren’t enough. 

He tried to ignore it. He tried to talk about it with Bucky once, but he just sighed and hugged him because, yeah, that was after his mother’s funeral and because “I’ll stay here with you. Not going anywhere, pal.” was what his friend could only say to the poor little kid in a time like that. Steve gave up any other attempt to explain what he had seen that day, under the rain. 

That was the first time that happened. 

 

The second time was a bit scarier, and with some more dramatic consequences. 

Steve was trying to fight back one of the usual bully he managed to make angry, and that meant keeping him busy until Bucky would’ve follow the sounds of the fight and rush there like a fury.   
He was used to go down, but he was also used to get up again. 

He had lost count of the times his face hit the concreate and, at some point, he stayed down long enough for the bully to leave. 

Steve’s breath was coming in and out in little coughs, but he slowly tried to kneel, at least. Breathing was becoming harder and harder, so he tried to calm down, and then happened: he turned a bit his head and found it almost crouching next to himself. His breath broke completely after a gasp, coming out in strong coughs; he was so scared he could do anything but fall down on his side again and try to move away, hoping not to die. 

_It_ wasn’t the right term, though, to describe what he had seen: **him** , was better. 

Steve saw that man for the second time in that moment, after another lost fight.   
He didn’t remember of him at first, it was some years after his mother’s death after all, and in that precise moment, he wasn’t really focused on sudden apparitions. 

Bucky arrived at some point, then, screaming for him and about how much stupid he was and why he couldn’t just stay away from casual bullies for once. 

“I saw it again.” Steve said while his friend helped him to stand. 

“Who, the bully? Who was it? Holy- did he break your wrist?” 

“No, the- the man... The weird man.” Because that was how Steve could remembered calling him in the past. He wasn’t sure about that either, but Bucky just sighed and both of them walked (one of them limping) away from the alley. 

Steve didn’t talked about him for some other years, but he kept seeing a shadow in the corner of his eyes, sometimes. He just decided not to think about it and slowly he stop noticing it at all. 

 

Some other years passed, the war came, and Steve’s desire to be part of it, to help fighting for the rights and freedom of everyone, started to bloom as well: he wanted to be a soldier, he wanted to do the job so many brave men where already doing around the world. 

He was staring at one of the documentaries of it, in the street, when he felt a shiver and looked on the left, spotting him again: the weird man was some meters away, apparently staring at the buildings around himself, in those strange clothes. Steve looked at the people walking next to him without noticing him at all, and there he began to think that he was really going insane. That man couldn’t be real... and then he turned, looking straight at him. 

Steve blinked at the sudden glare. That was the third time he saw him… 

“Hey, can you stop ignoring me?” 

And that was the first time the weird man talked directly to him. 

Steve never ran from a fight, but he ran from him. From that. Whatever it was. And he actually did not run, he just… walked away pretty fast. 

He had to continue to ignore it. Hallucinations were not good. No, definitely not good. 

 

The fourth time Steve saw the weird man, he was at the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow Exhibition, after another failed attempt to join the army and another failed fist-fight in another sad and cold alley. Bucky insisted to go and so there they were. With girls. Steve sighed deeply and prepared for another kind of battle. 

The exhibition was actually interesting, he had to admit, and he saw a car almost flying! That man, Mr. Stark, sure was a genius… or he really knew just how to entertain the crow.

Steve took a deep breath watching the man talking on the stage, then a felt a little shiver and turn around, looking through the people. 

“How this is even possible…?” 

Steve turned the other way and the weird man was there next to him. He froze, blinking: he couldn’t just scream for help, or start another fight right there, there was people, and the girls, and… and… 

“Ok, that’s something I wasn’t ready for…” murmured the weird man, still looking at the stage. 

“What?” Steve said before he could stop himself. Did he just talked to a hallucination? 

The weird man looked down at him, almost sighing in relief, “Finally. Hi there.” 

“You- who are you? Why you keep following me?” 

“I am following you? Really? That’s-“ 

“Stop it, all right? Just- stay away from me.” Steve said, walking away. He didn’t looked back until he was on the other side of the place and the weird man was gone again. He sighed and shook his head, looking at another Army Recruitment Point and there, things started to change: Bucky gave up on trying persuading him from his dream and when they parted ways, one of them was ready to leave for the battlefield.

Then, Steve’s life finally started to change: someone accepted to give him a chance and he was ready, so damn ready to prove he deserved it. 

Doctor Erskine never doubted about him, not once, from the beginning. He was what Steve needed to start working on his dream, not only hoping to realize it, but to actually do some steps into the right direction. 

He started the training, he tried his best on the field…and he noticed Agent Peggy Carter. The lady knew how to be respected and he was sure that she deserved all that respect. Nothing less. 

And then, Project Rebirth started. The Super Soldier Serum was ready to change him forever. 

Steve was ready. He accepted it and, trusting Erskine and Stark, he lay down on that metal table that turned out to be a cabin when it closed all around him. Then some other things happened: his own screams of pain while his body was changing, his pleading to continue, that he could do this, and then he was almost sure he saw the weird man again, just outside the cabin, screaming something at him, eyes wide open and… kind of worried. 

That view lasted for a few seconds, before Steve was forced to shut his eyes closed and endure… until the cabin opened again and wow, was hard to tell if the world turned upside down or was just him turned to a big man ready to fight. 

People were happy, the serum worked, the Super Soldier was there in his perfect shape… then everything changed again, but to the worst: an explosion, gunshots, Erskine down and someone running away. 

Steve immediately ran to the doctor, watching him slowly put a finger over his heart with what seemed a so slight smile, before die under his eyes. After that, there was rage.   
He was back outside in seconds, jumping over Agent Carter before a car could kill her, and after a confused apologize, he locked his eyes on the car that, in the meanwhile, had collided with another one, and the man was trying to escape with it. 

Steve ran, and ran and ran through the busy streets of Brooklyn, amazed by the speed and the resistance he could only dream to have just some minutes before. Stop was also something to learn, and a poor little shop payed the price for his inexperience with his new powers. 

He reached the port area and the man took a kid as a hostage, keep trying to escape. 

Steve watched him throw the poor boy in the sea before flee once again. Sure that the little kid was ok, he keep following the man and saw the strange submarine ready to leave and he didn’t even think, he just jumped into water and dive to stop it and him, once and for all. 

“Who are you?!” was all Steve managed to ask him when he finally had his hand on him, both of them back on the docks, but the man apparently was ready for it and being captured wasn’t an option: he bite down a capsule he had hidden in in mouth and, after a proud “Hail Hydra.” He died on the spot, white foam forming in his mouth. 

Steve let him go, slowly standing, staring at him and then at himself, still feeling like in someone else’s body. Then, there was a movement in the corner of his eyes: the serum kicked in and he saw a shadow walking away. He ran for it and, behind the corner, he saw a man running, “Stop!” he yelled, following and in few second he got him, both of them rolling almost at the edge of the dock, and there he froze: he had just captured the weird man himself.

-.-.-.-*-.-.-.-

“What the hell…?” Tony Stark said, staring at the unknown place with a deep frown.  
It was raining, there were trees around, probably a big park somewhere, but- that doesn’t looked like New York. That sure was not Central Park.

“JARVIS? Is this some kind of experiment gone wrong?” He asked, but no one answer. “J?” Tony put a hand on his ear, but there was no communicator. He kept looking around in confusion, “Ok then…” he slowly started to walk under the rain, rising a hand but the water didn’t seemed to hit him, “This can’t be good.” He commented, and then looked over a fence, staring at multiple graves: the park was actually a big cemetery, probably a funeral over there, where some people were slowly leaving fresh flowers before left. 

Tony kept looking at them, then get closer. He didn’t know any of those people, but sure they were dressed in old fashion ways.   
He watched in silence, then he looked at his left: there was a kid there, next to another one probably elder than him. The little guy was so skinny, with short blonde hair and sad blue eyes staring at the grave. Maybe he knew who had died.

There was something familiar about the kid, he didn’t know what, but… 

Then the little kid looked straight at him with big, watery eyes that, after a moment became unsure; he then told something to his friend that just sighed and hugged him, covering him almost completely. 

Tony keep looking at the two, then he looked back at the grave and make some step closer, but when he was going to read the name on it, he wasn’t there anymore.

*

The next step he took, it was in a gray and humid alley, hearing the sounds of a fight.

Tony looked around more confused than ever, the cemetery suddenly gone, same for the people, the trees, the grave and the kids. Or, that was what he thought. 

Walking more into the alley, he saw a big boy beating up someone, but that someone, that blondie, keep standing up until another punch, stronger than the others, forced him to stay down too long and the other guy just left with some giggles. 

Tony shook his head and quickly moved back to the kid on the ground, “You ok?” he asked, crouching next to him: the poor guy was breathing hard, shaking a bit, a hand over his stomach and when he looked up at him, well… Tony wasn’t sure what exactly he could have seen, but the kid gasped so much that he started to cough like he couldn’t breathe at all. “Hey- calm down-“, Tony tried to help, but he stopped his hand when he saw that the kid was trying to move away from him. 

Tony watched him frowning, kind of worried now because, really, he was pretty sure his face wasn’t that bad to look at, but the kid was scared as hell, beaten up, with probably a broken wrist. He sighed and stood, making some steps back, stopping behind a corner until another guy, probably kid’s friend, found him and helped him up, and then Tony saw it: the other guy, the one with the dark hair, was the same he saw at the cemetery… so the blonde actually was the same little kid as well. 

The other guy yelled at him all the time until he was on his feet. 

“No- no, the man… the weird man.” Said the blonde, while both of them left the alley. 

Tony huffed a laugh, “Well, that’s new.” He said, closing his eyes for a moment…

*

The moment later he almost fall back, not a wall against his back anymore, but the street of a city, a busy city… also an old-looking city.

Tony blinked in surprise, eyes wide open, taking in all the scenario. “This isn’t New York at all.” He said to himself, looking up at the sky, while people were walking next to him without say anything, or even looking at him. “What the hell is happening?” he said staring at the cars running in the streets, and then the kid was there again, only he looked less a kid now. Still staring at him confused and a bit scared, but dressed like a young man. 

Tony sighed, “Can you stop ignoring me?” he said and, again, the kid jumped a bit and ran away. “Oh, come on- I didn’t do anything… yet.” He groaned, giving up on following him, stopping in front of the shop the kid was looking: he saw a very old type of television and an even older video about war and Nazis. 

“This _really_ can’t be good.” Tony murmured, then he suddenly blinked and looked where the guy was gone, then back at the television… and then back at street: that kid… 

“It can’t be…” He said confused, then someone hit against his shoulder and suddenly…

*

Suddenly big lights and music coming from everywhere where surrounding him.

Tony moved away from the chaos, or at least tried to, and stopped against a little stand, trying to focus on what happened and where he was: there were many stages all over the place, people presenting something? It looked like one of the Stark exhibition, indeed… and there was a Stark logo over there.   
He blinked and slowly moved closer, in time to see a car floating a bit from the stage, lovely women in colorful, short dress around it, and Howard Stark himself presenting the innovation of the Stark technology. 

Tony tried not to choke in a gasp, “How this is even possible-” he tried to keep his breathing steady, “Ok, that’s something I wasn’t ready for…” 

“What?”

Tony looked away from the stage and the blonde kid was there, next to him. He huffed, almost in relief, “Finally. Hi there.” 

“You- who are you? Why you keep following me?” 

“I am following you? Really? That’s-“ 

“Stop it, alright? Just- stay away from me.” 

Tony tried to say something, but the skinny guy was quickly walking away. “It can’t be you…” he murmured to himself…

*

And again, in a blink of his eyes, Tony was inside some kind of lab, machine and old fashioned screens all over the place, people in white lab coat- doctors? The one closer to a big metal cabin sure looked like one, beard over his face, glasses and… a German accent.

“What is this?” Tony looked around and found Howard Stark again, calibrating something at 70%. 

Tony flinched at the screams of pain starting from inside of the cabin. 

“Shut it down!” screamed a woman from the room above. 

“NO! Don’t! I can do it!” came the voice, between the screams. 

Tony put both hands on the little window of the cabin, and there he blinked and shut his mouth because everything suddenly made sense. He looked back at the room, at his father there, younger than he remembered him, but still his own father; he looked up at the woman, and he was sure he have seen her in some photograph… 

Tony stepped back when the light from the cabin grown brighter and brighter, all those people keep acting as if he wasn’t there. He looked at some documents around, forgotten on the machines, and his eyes stopped on two words: Project Rebirth. 

He looked back at the cabin, “Steve?” he said with the voice he managed to use and then suddenly the light forced him to cover his eyes with an arm and then…

*

He was outside again, breathing fast, looking around for a tense and scared moment: still the city, but that looked like a harbor of some sort.

More screams filled the area, a woman, and then some gunshots. 

Tony moved to the left, still trying to convince himself that this was just a crazy dream, but then he saw him: two men were on the dock, one in a suit, laying on the ground, motionless, and another one in white t-shirt and brown trousers, not even his shoes on. 

Tony stared at his square shoulders, the blond hair, and… and suddenly Steve Rogers turned to look at him, and the first thing Tony Stark decided to do, was of course to run away. “This can’t be. This can’t be-“ 

“Stop!” 

“Shit, oh shit this can’t be-“ Tony tried to feel proud of the probably three meters he managed to do before Captain America tackled him better than a rugby player, both of them rolling on the concreate. A second later, he was face to face with the super soldier. 

Steve stared at him for a moment, breathing hard, dripping seawater from his hair, keeping a tight grip on his dark t-shirt. 

Tony tried to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. 

“You’re- you’re that man…” Steve said, frowning. 

“Maybe you’re confusing me with someone else?” 

“I am not. You’re- you were following me all this time? You’re working with them?” 

“T-them who?” 

“The people who wanted Doctor Erskine dead!” Steve roared. 

“What? No, I- Steve, listen, I have no idea-“ 

“You know my name?” 

And Tony hesitated. 

“How do you know my name?” Steve asked again, pushing him hard against the floor. 

Before Tony could say something, he felt himself falling…

*

Abruptly, there was concreate against his back again. Steve was gone; the entire port area was apparently gone. That looked like a normal bedroom.

Still shaken and breathing hard, Tony sat on the floor, looking around: there was a bed, a wardrobe, two doors, one probably the bathroom, and a window facing some buildings. 

“God, this is crazy…” He sighed, placing a hand over his face. That really was Steve. He was exactly like he saw him once outside the ice… but that was the past, Project Rebirth just created Captain America, and he didn’t even knew Tony Stark… how was all that possible? Did he actually discovered a way to travel through space and time and he couldn’t even remember it? 

A door opened outside the room and he froze. 

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” A woman voice. 

“Yeah, I- I just need to rest a moment.” And shit, that was Steve. 

Tony jumped up, looking around in panic: what do to? Hide? Jump from the window? “Window. Yes.” He moved to it, but nope, without the suit, a jump from there did not looked like the best idea. He then heard the door close and then silence for a long moment. 

Tony waited there, with no idea of what to do, or why he was so scared of Steve all of sudden. Why he should be? Steve was a friend… kind of. They fought together, they ate shawarma together, Tony sure would be able to- to hide behind the door the second he heard footsteps coming his way.

The door didn’t smashed on his face, luckily, and more luckily Steve didn’t decided to close it. 

Tony stood there, between the door and the wall against his back, waiting, listening… then Steve moved to the other room, and water started to run. The bathroom, he was right.

He tried to stay focus and waited until the bathroom’s door was ajar to leave his safe spot and the bedroom, quickly walking in the little living room, the door just some steps away from him… and of course he hit the little, low coffee table, making fall the teapot on it (a teapot? For God’s sake) that crashed on the ground, and probably alerting half of the floor. 

“Who’s there?” 

Tony was standing up when a half-naked Steve Rogers arrived in the living room, only a towel around his waist, brushing over his knees. 

“YOU!” 

“Sorry! I’m sorry for- for the teapot.” 

“How did you get in here?” 

“I really don’t know, I swear- I swear I don’t know!” he said, moving away.

“I had enough of you!” Steve keep following him all over the room, both of them running around the furniture. 

“I could say the same, you know?” 

“Who’s the one following who? For ages!” 

“And that sound normal to you?” 

“That’s why I want an explanation!” 

“If I had it, I wouldn’t be here!” Tony found himself close to the door and decided to run for it. Steve couldn’t remember him, and an explanation about time travels looked kind of impossible at the moment. 

“Wait, stop!” Steve jumped over the coffee table when the door opened from the outside and they both froze. 

“Steve, what happen-“ 

“Peggy, stop him!” 

She stared at him from the doorstep, frowning, but looking around in the room before actually focus on the soldier and blush, completely ignoring Tony that was right in front of her “W-who, exactly?” 

“The man, he-“ Steve looked at her, then at him and then back at her, “You- you haven’t seen anyone coming out from the room?” 

“Uh- no…” She looked at him, trying to stay focus on his face, “Someone was here? I heard you screaming…” 

Tony moved a bit aside, kind of awkward being in the way with no one paying attention to him. He looked at the soldier with a resigned, silent shrug. 

“N-no.” Steve looked away from him, and shook his head at her, “No, I- maybe I just saw a shadow.” He added and then, noticing Peggy looking away, still blushing, he looked down at himself and grabbed better the towel, “Sorry. ‘Guess I’m still on the edge.” 

“It’s all right. I will see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight.” She said with a little smile when he nodded, closing the door behind her. 

Tony took a deep breath and looked back at him. 

Steve meet his gaze a moment later, face stone cold, “It’s time for you to talk.” 

The inventor nodded sadly, “Time for you to get dressed first, maybe?” and he smiled a bit at the slight blush that appeared on the soldier’s face before he walked back in his bedroom. 

 

After a bit, Tony was at the window in the little kitchen, on the other side of the apartment, staring at the city in a mix of emotions: he clearly was in the past. Steve clearly didn’t know him, because clearly Tony wasn’t even born yet, and **clearly** he was ready to go insane before be able to talk with the soldier again. 

Why he was there? How? Someone sent him back in time? Another alien attacked the Avengers and he couldn’t remember some strange time-magic?

Footsteps distracted him from his thoughts, and moving back into the living room, he saw the soldier flinch a bit when their eyes met. Tony couldn’t stop himself from staring at the casual clothes he was wearing, so simple, a gray shirt and a pair of dark trousers, yet they looked so perfect on him more than the modern clothes he had in the future. 

“I thought you were gone again.” Said Steve, voice still cold. He didn’t get any closer than that. 

“Same here. I don’t really know for how long I’ll stay before woke up in another place.” Tony said, and damn, those cold blue eyes were the same he saw in the lab of the helicarrier, during the first fight/discussion they had, and he hated them now as he did before. “Listen, I don’t want to hurt you. I am not here to kill anyone-“ 

“Then why you’re here?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“What exactly are you?” 

“I don’t know.” And yes, Steve was close to punch him now. 

“What do you know, then?” asked the soldier, trying to be patient. 

“I know I shouldn’t be here. I know this is not my place.” Tony sighed, sitting on the couch, “Steve, I swear, I’m more confused than you are.” 

Steve stared at him for a long moment, without moving, then he asked, “How did you know my name?” 

First rule of the time travelers: never change the past. Tony feared that say that he was Howard’s son, coming from a future where he fought along with Captain America after his seventy years nap inside an ice cube, was quite against that rule. “I think I heard it from your friend. I saw him once… dark hair? He’s in the army too…” and ok, Steve looked ready to kill him now. 

“Leave him out of this.” The soldier hissed coldly. 

“Sure. Never mind. By bad.” He really cared about Bucky like a brother, that wasn’t just a part of the story, apparently. 

Steve took a deep breath, probably trying to calm down, “I saw you when I was a kid. Then I saw you before I joined the army, still you haven’t changed a bit. So I’m asking you again, _what_ are you?” 

Tony snorted, “ _What_ am I? What do I look like?” 

“You’re clearly not human-“ 

“Really?” 

“You’re part of some other project Stark and Doctor Erskine didn’t told me about?” 

“Steve…” 

“It’s Steven.” 

Tony was ready to shout something back, but he closed his mouth and stared at him: Steve just lost a friend, became Captain America, saw a man dying and found himself talking to a strange man that appeared in his life here and there like a damn ghost- 

Tony blinked in surprise, “I’m a ghost?” he asked, more to himself, but aloud. 

Steve made the same face, before looking somewhat worried, “A ghost? So you- you’re dead?” 

“That would make sense…” 

“But… but I stopped you this morning. I touched you.” 

Tony halted his thoughts for a second and stood, walking to him and, when the poor soldier stepped back until his back hit against the table, he tried to grab his arm… and the hand passed through it. “Shit…” 

“Alright, that’s-“ Steve moved away, in the center of the room, “How is that possible? I stopped you when you were trying to escape.” 

Tony looked down at the book on the table and tried to grab it, but he couldn’t, his hand just passing through it. _Am I really dead? But why I am here, then? Why now?_

“Well, that’s kind of a relief.” 

Tony looked at him again, “A relief? My death is a relief for you?” 

“No, of course not, but… I thought that I was having hallucinations or- or some other disease.” Steve huffed a laugh, sitting down on the couch, “Or that I was going insane.” 

_Yeah, I guess I wasn’t helping much about that_ , Tony thought. “I’m starting to think that I am the one insane, here.” He said, sitting in front of him. God, if he really was dead in the future, without even remember what happen…

“That’s why I saw you in the cemetery the first time?” Wondered Steve, “It was my mother’s funeral… and I saw you there. I can’t remember another funeral that day, but-“ 

“No, I’m pretty sure my funeral wasn’t that day.” 

“Why you kept following me all this time? Why me?” 

“I have no idea, but it seems that you’re the only one able to see me... and hear me.” 

Steve thought for a moment, “I’ve done something wrong?” 

“Steve- Steven, I’m sure I’m not here to drop a curse on you.” And he almost laughed when the soldier nodded with a little sigh of relief. He looked curiously at him now, “You believe in ghosts?” 

“Yes- I mean, no… my mom used to say that the spirit of the people we love never leave us entirely, not even after death. She never said ghost, but- she believed in presence around us.” He frowned a bit at him now, “But I don’t know you, so I don’t understand why you’re here.” 

_But I know you_ , Tony thought and sighed. Becoming a ghost, he would go back in time to meet Steve Rogers? Why he should? That was nonsense. “Maybe I’m not really a ghost…” 

“Then what?” 

Tony just shook his head because, really, thinking to not be dead yet was a little hope he needed at the moment. 

“You really don’t know why you’re here or why you’re following me, isn’t it?” 

“It was so hard to believe the first ten times I said that?” 

“A little.” Steve said innocently, earning a resigned sigh from the other. “Do you… have a name?” 

“Tony.” And wasn’t that the smartest move? Saying his true name out loud and clear. 

“That’s it…?” Steve gently insisted, waiting for the rest. 

“Stank.” 

Steve nodded slowly, “Tony Stank.” 

“You don’t like it? You want to call me- I don’t know, Jimmy or something?” and Steve smiled, a genuine little grin this time, and oh boy, that was something he rarely saw even in the future. 

“No. Tony it’s fine.” He answered, “And I guess you already know who I am.” 

“I do... you sure changed a lot from the first time we met.” 

Steve looked down at himself, “Yeah… long story.” 

“In short?” 

“I joined the army.” He huffed with a little shrug. 

“Well, it sure looks good on you.” 

Steve stared at him for a moment, then looked down at his clothes, “Those are a bit-“ then a knock at the door interrupted him, “Sorry.” He said, standing up. 

“Only you would be polite with a ghost. An almost ghost...” Tony sighed, standing up himself, but he lost his balance for a moment and fall down again…

*

He fell down on a wood floor, music filling his ears and he jumped up when he saw another big crowd all around himself. “Not again…” Tony sighed, looking around the big room with decoration of the color of the America’s flag and still all the people dressed in fancy clothes, “Still the ‘40s then.” He walked a bit forward, the people ignoring him like always, but mostly because of the stage in front of all of them, and suddenly he forgot about everything as well.

On the stage there were almost twenty chorus girls in mini dresses, the colors blue, white and red always present, and in the middle, there was Captain America, giving away a patriotic speech and then acting like a hero, punching a very sad-looking copy of Hitler. 

The crowd was applauding and cheering like in a rock concert. 

“I’ll regret not filming this for the rest of my life.” Said Tony, slowly smiling at the show. He knew that Steve started with this “military” campaign, but… this was beyond words. He could only smile and wish to take a picture of it. 

When the show ended, Tony walked to reach the backstage, still trying to avoid people that would ignore him anyway. Not passing through him as if he was actually a ghost, but they just kept avoiding his own space. That was a relief and kind of scary at the same time. 

He saw people moving away some fans (fans? Steve Rogers had fans) out of the little corridor, and he took the opportunity to slide inside a room from the door left open. 

Steve came out of another little room and jumped, “Jesus-“ 

“Sorry, my bad.” 

“How- Tony, right?” 

“Yes… Am I so easy to forget?” and he actually felt a pang of sadness earing his own name on Steve’s lips again. 

“No, but… you disappeared from my apartment that day. Again. I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again.” 

“Yeah, well, sorry for being stuck with a ghost.” 

Steve sighed, “It’s easier to accept now, actually.” 

“Really?” 

“I know you can’t do anything about it, and I sure can’t do anything either, so…” he shrugged, then smiled a bit, “I just thought that I would had to wait some years to see you again.” 

“Did I missed much?” 

“Almost a month.” 

“Oh. Less than the last time.” Tony smiled, looking up and down his suit, “I sure choose the right moment to be back.” And smiled even more when the soldier coughed, blushing a bit. 

“I joined the army and they put me on a stage… in this- suit.” Steve sighed, “Its ridiculous, isn’t it?” 

“Uhm… well, its- it is a very tight suit.” 

“That’s a yes or a no?” 

“Let’s say ridiculous for me, probably not for the ladies.” 

Steve blinked, looking down at himself, and the content grin that appeared on his face, along with a slight blush, almost made Tony facepalm. “What about you? Where were you in this month?” Asked the soldier.

“For me was just like- five minutes ago.” 

“Oh. Really?” 

“I was in your apartment and the second after I was out there, watching you punching Hitler.” 

Steve nodded slowly, “You think you’ll stay around a bit more this time?” 

“Hope so. I have no idea how this jumps forward in time works.” 

“Maybe you can control it, you just need to understand how.” 

“Maybe. I should try something like in that movie-“ Tony slowly stopped when he saw the first, original shield there, on the floor. He lowered in front of it and smiled a bit. He always wanted to see the first one, that piece of crap metal and wood… with the speech attached on the inside. He tried to grab it, but again his hands just got thorough it. 

Steve was closer now, crouching next to him. 

Tony tried to hide quickly his disappointed face, “Getting used to this is harder than it seems.” He commented, staring at his own hand. 

“Listen, maybe we can try to search for someone that knows you.” Steve said after a bit, “You sure had some friends, a- a family, someone. They could know what happened to you.” 

_My family doesn’t even exist yet_. Tony sighed, “Maybe. But you don’t have to worry about that. You have your… whatever-that-was to finish.” 

“It’s just a show… I don’t think this will be of any help to the men fighting on the field.” 

Tony stared at him, both of them still crouching in front of the shield. 

“Hey Rogers!” someone called, opening the door that hit the soldier’s side, sending him down on the floor- or more likely, sending him on someone. 

Tony actually felt all Steve’s weight on himself, leaving him with few air in his lungs, but when the soldier pulled up on his hands, Tony was sure that wasn’t just his imagination. 

“I did it again…” murmured Steve, suddenly grabbing one of his shoulders, looking into his eyes and yeah, he was touching him again... and yes, they were pretty close and Tony felt the urge to hug him and hope to never lose that feeling ever again. 

“Woah, sorry- Rogers, you’re all right?” asked the man from the door. 

Tony saw him turning back to look at the man, and when he blinked, in a second he was falling again…

*

This time he crashed on metal, and… on somewhere that was moving.

Steve looked back from the road outside the jeep’s curtains and it took him some second to elaborate, “Damn it, Tony.” He said, looking at the man half laying on one of the two soldier in black suit and helmet, unconscious there. 

“That sound the same even here…” said Tony, looking around the car, then at him: he was still wearing the fancy, tight Captain America’s suit he saw at the show, under a brown jacket now, an helmet on his head and the first, old shield on his back “What- where are we this time?” 

“I don’t have time for this.” Steve grabbed tightly his shield, looking outside again. 

“I know, but be patience, would you?” Tony tried to sit better, studying the two soldier and he saw the Hydra symbol, “You’re going to attack the Hydra base…?” 

Steve looked back at him, “And how you know about them?” 

_Shit_. 

“Answer me. How you know about Hydra?” again the cold tone. 

“I know about them, yes. Do I work with them? No.” 

“And I should just believe that?” 

“Hey, I am jumping here and there in time, how I could work with anyone in the first place?” Tony insisted, and Steve didn’t answer to that. He sighed, “Tell me what happened. Maybe I can help.” 

“They took a friend of mine- Hydra kidnapped the entire squad. I need to know if he’s still alive, and try to save the rest of them.” 

“Alright… and you’re in solo mission?” 

“The base is too big and guarded for an open attack.” 

“You’re here on your own decision, are you?” Tony smiled pleased, even more when the soldier sighed, looking away. “Not judging here. Captain America to the rescue is such a cliché, though…” 

“What?” 

“Heroes doing heroic things. I like it.” 

“It’s nothing heroic. I’m doing it because it’s my duty- and the right thing to do.” 

“But you’re the only one doing it.” 

Steve stared at him with his usual face that knew he was right, but he would never admitted it. “I’m probably the only one that _can_ do it.” 

“I’m sure you can.” Tony said and saw him awkwardly looking down. Ok, maybe that sounded too friendly in a moment like that, “Alright, then. How far are we from the base?” 

“Not too far, but- you should go.” 

“Sorry, that don’t depends on me.” 

“Tony, this is war. People there will try kill us.” 

Tony was almost next to him and couldn’t stop a smile, a warm, surprised, little smile, “You’re worried they will kill me again?” 

Steve was actually going to answer, but he stopped, huffing a laugh, shaking his head, “Apparently, yes. You sure are able to make me forget that little detail.” 

“I’ll try to be out of the way. Don’t worry about me.” 

“But I-“ Steve moved a hand to him, but it passed through it again. “We touched again last time...” 

“I know… maybe it’s something else I can control, I don’t know. I’ll figure it out later.” 

The jeep started to slow down. 

“Then you better stay a ghost for now.” Said Steve, covering behind the shield when a soldier looked inside the car, and smashed it against him, sending the poor man meters away; then he jumped out, looking around before move inside the base. 

Tony followed, staring at the gigantic enemy base, “Hydra always had to impress people with big, shiny things, uh.” He said following the soldier that was quickly making is way on the field. 

Taking down some other Hydra soldier, they kept moving through the base that kind of looked more and more like a factory of some sort. 

Tony was staring at everything and the word that came into his mind was _weapons_. Dangerous, evilish weapons. “They’re making lots of bad stuff in here.” He said, without stopping. 

“This is only one of their base.” 

“One off, other hundred to go?” 

“You have to start somewhere.” Steve opened another door and looking down, he saw bars of cages beneath them. He moved ahead to silently took down another Hydra soldier, grabbing the keys he had with him. Meanwhile, under his feet were the kidnapped soldiers, looking confused at him. 

“So that’s how you did it…” murmured Tony, following him downstairs. He smiled at the people staring at the Captain with big frowns while he was asking for Sergeant James Barnes and then giving instructions about clear the base and escape. 

“Wait. You know what you’re doing?” asked one of them when he was ready to continue his mission. 

“Yeah, I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times.” Steve said, running away before the men could say something more than just blink in confusion once again. And Tony was doing the same.

“A joke in the middle of a mission? And then I am the one not taking things seriously.” Tony said, running behind, chuckling, “Clint will never believe this.” 

Some stairs and floors later, Steve was walking in a dark corridor, looking in every room on their way, when all the structure trembled, making him bend against the wall. 

“I think your friends have found some of those weapons.” Said Tony, moving forward, studying the place. 

“All this place will be destroyed.” Steve said, and then looked at him, “How’re you feeling? You’re not gone yet.” 

“You want me to?” 

“No, I-“ he sighed, “I’m kind of relieved to have you here with me. You look used to this kind of things.” 

“I- I do?” Tony was still stuck at the _I’m relieved to have you here with me._

“You never stood on my way, but never too far to make me look for you. You were studying all the way we get thorough… and you were staring at those things we saw upstairs and the blueprints...” He stopped a second, “Really, what were you? Some kind of… inventor? Like Stark?” 

Tony froze for a moment, a moment full of sadness and dark feelings. He turned around to answer, but a soldier behind Steve caught his attention and he pushed him away when a gun fired. 

Steve reacted the second later, running against him and smashing the shield on the enemy, sending him meters away. He looked back, and quickly ran to him, grabbing his shoulder again. 

Tony flinched a bit, but smiled, “Don’t ask me how I did it. Still no idea.” 

“How can you be a ghost if you’re physically here?” he moved the hand to his face, studying him like it was the first time they met. 

Tony swallow, feeling a knot on his stomach. He could only shook his head and shrug. 

“I have a shield already, you don’t have to take bullets for me, got it?” Steve said, checking him for injures, “You’re hurt?” 

“No… I think he missed me.” 

Steve took a deep breath, “You saved my life. Thanks.” 

“No big deal.” Tony nodded, feeling the knot tightened a bit, “We still have your friend to find.” 

Captain America nodded and both of them moved forward. He was running again now, but stopped seeing a man coming out a room, not a very tall man, with a hat and glasses on his nose; he tried to say something, but the man was already far away. Steve then ran inside the room, “Bucky? Oh my God…” 

Tony was watching at the corridor where the man was gone. “You can’t run forever.” He murmured, before reach the others: Bucky Barnes was laying on a big table, tied on it, Steve quickly freeing him when all the base trembled again, “Guys, I think we should-“ Tony stopped, feeling a pang of pain on his side. Looking down, there was a little stain… was that a hole on his t-shirt…? 

“Come on.” Steve helped Bucky out the room, then looked back at him, following his glare and then their eyes met. 

“Go.” Tony said faster that he could, “I’m fine. You know I’m fine, take him away.” 

“You’re not fine-“ 

“I am, I’m-“ Tony grabbed the table before slowly crash down on the floor. He stared at the dark stain on his t-shirt, more confused that scared: he was already dead… if he was a ghost, how he could get shot and bleed if he wasn’t even really there? Yes, sometimes apparently he was, but... 

Steve crouched next to him a second later, but he couldn’t touch him anymore. “Damn it-“ 

“You guys have to go.” 

“Make it work, c’mon!” 

“I can’t.” 

“You can, just focus!” 

“You can’t take us both out of here anyway! He needs help more than I do.” 

“You got shot! You’re bleeding to death and I can’t even-“ 

“Then you have no reason to stay.” He saw him look at him in pure agony, “Come on. I- I don’t really know what is going on, if I’m a ghost or not but… usually it works that way, so I am pretty sure I’ll see you again in a bit.” He huffed a laugh at the stubborn expression on the soldier’s face, “Promise.” He added.

Steve nodded once, staring at him, “You better keep that promise, Tony Stank.” He said, before stood and, grabbing Bucky again, both of them were gone. 

“Normally, I would have laughed at that… so, so much.” Tony smiled, looking around the room that kept trembling, “Ok… if I’m a ghost, now would be the right time to disappear from here.” He said, looking down at the bloodstain that was becoming bigger and bigger. He closed his eyes and, strange how it may sound, he wished to be already dead.

*

Opening his eyes again, Tony was in a large room filled with tables and shelves full of books and documents; the ceiling was low, and the lights dim, only part of them on.

Tony was sitting on the floor; he put a hand on his stomach, but the gunshot wound wasn’t there anymore. He sighed in relief, standing up. If he was there, Steve couldn’t be too far… and there he was, just behind a shelf: Captain America was sitting on a chair, dressed in the brown military suit Tony saw in the pictures, but watching him wearing it like this… Well, he kind of feel like he really deserved that respect Iron Man was so hardly willing to show him. 

Steve looked up and blinked in surprise, standing up with a smile slowly growing on his face. “You made it?” 

“Seems like it.” Tony was almost in front of him when he tried to hug him and whoa, Captain America just passed through him. He almost felt dizzy. 

“S-sorry. I thought…” 

“Its fine, just- weird.” He turned back, Steve standing behind him with a sad face, “I told you, I don’t know how to be- physically here.” 

“But you were. You- you got shot.” He said, looking down at his chest. 

“I’m not anymore.” Tony passed a hand over the t-shirt, “Your friend is alright?” 

Steve nodded, “Yeah. We all made it. Hydra’s base was destroyed.” 

“That’s good.” 

“We’re ready to destroy the others in all Europe, now.” Steve took a breath then smiled a bit, “I want to show you something.” He said, moving to another table. 

“I really can’t imagine what it could be-“ Tony froze when the soldier turned around, showing his shield. Not the piece of metal crap, but the shield, the round one, the _American dish_ , like he called it once… and Steve promptly gave him a deadly look, that time. _That time_ … was so weird to say.

Steve was smiling now, proud of his shield as he was in the future. “You looked interested about the shield.” 

“Its… well, it makes you more iconic, that’s for sure.” Tony came closer, knocking on it. He actually knocked on the metal, and both of them blinked in surprise. 

Steve grabbed his wrist, “Stay focused.” He said, staring intently at him. 

“I told you, I can’t decide when-“ 

“Maybe you can.” 

Tony sighed, feeling his grip tight around his arm… somehow it was comforting. 

“Who are you, Tony?” Steve asked and the other looked back at him, tense now, “You’re not a ghost, you don’t seems to be human, but I think that you are… so what is it that you’re not telling me?” Captain America wasn’t easy to fool, after all. 

“I can’t tell you.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I don’t know if it would be the right choice. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can’t… not if I am not sure of what is happening.” 

“Are you sure you’re not part of some… project? I don’t care what kind, but maybe someone tried to do on you what they did on me. With different results.” 

Tony huffed, amazed of how, even in the past, Steve Rogers’s mind was already so open to the superhuman possibilities. He was the first one, after all. “I am not. No one did anything to me.” 

“Then why you keep following me? Maybe you need help- maybe I can help.” 

“How? And about what? Come on, Rogers, this is just…” 

“This is just _what_? What exactly is this?” 

“I don’t know.” Tony said after a moment, “I usually know everything, but this- this makes no sense.” 

Steve sighed, “You’re not a ghost. You are alive and- and human. As much as I am.” 

“Steve?” called someone from the corridor. 

The soldier looked away, “It’s Howard. He wanted to talk about the shield… hey, maybe he could help you?” 

“Uh, no. No, no.” Tony tried to get free, with poor results, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” 

“He’s a genius, I’m sure he would believe this story.” 

“No… that’s not-“ Tony looked back, a glimpse of his father visible at the door, but the man was busy reading something on a paper. Tony managed to get free, looking sadly at him, “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He added, and then moved fast to hide in another room, and closed the door, breathing hard against it. Until he felt cold air all around himself.

*

Turning, Tony found himself in what looked like the remains of a destroyed building. It was dark, probably early evening; the street were dusty and a voice was screaming warning for the population of London.

Still the past. Still the war… and war sucks. 

He took a deep breath, walking through the remains, and then stop in front of what, sometime before, sure was a nice looking bar. The ceiling wasn’t there anymore, part of it crashed over the counter on the right, and in the middle of the room there was Steve, again in his brown uniform, sitting on a dusty, ruined table, with his eyes stuck down. 

Tony made a step forward, and saw something terribly similar to a tear running down from the soldier’s eye. He breathed deeply and made another step, until he was almost next to him. 

Steve looked sideways on his direction, then turned more to look better at him, in silence, without say anything. 

“Sorry I left last time.” Tony said, voice low, “I think… maybe you were right. Maybe its… maybe it depends on me. But I still don’t know how make it work.” 

“Then why you’re here now?” 

Tony never saw him so devastated. “Maybe because you needed me?” 

Steve was still staring at him. “My friend. Bucky. He-“ he stopped, swallowing down God’s know how much sorrow, “I couldn’t save him this time.” 

_Bucky… he fell from a train, during a mission..._ Tony took a deep breath, “I am sorry.” 

“He was right there, and still I couldn’t save him.” He shook his head, back against the chair, “What’s the point of being Captain America when I fail to save who I care the most?” 

“That doesn’t mean that you didn’t tried to save him.” 

“How you can say that? You weren’t even there.” 

“But I know you. I know you tried your best.” 

“ _You know me_?” 

“You were ready to save an almost-ghost that got shot.” Tony said back, “You… you can’t let people down. Serum or not, that was in your genes even before becoming Captain America. And I’m sure that Bucky knew that too.” 

“And still he was the one that I managed to let down.” 

Tony stared at him, more serious now, “It’s the first time you lost a solider?” 

Steve looked back at him. 

He felt bad saying that, but Steve told him the same once. The least he could do was to help him keeping his mind straight, like he did with him that time. “War is war. We- you know the risks. It hurts, hurts like hell and probably will hurt for some time, but he was a soldier just like you. He was doing what he thought was right… that’s why he was there, isn’t it?” 

Steve kept staring at him, eyes watery in the dim light, and then he blinked the tears away, placing a hand over them. “Yeah. I know.” He said. 

Tony wasn’t sure if he was crying, but it seemed more like he needed a moment for himself… not walking away or yell at the strange, weird ghost-man to go away, no: if Captain America needed a moment, just a hand over his eyes was enough; just shielding himself that way was enough. Tony wished he could disappear, but he was still there, so he just turned around to leave. 

“You’re right.” Continued the soldier.

He looked back and no, of course Steve wasn’t crying, but his face was sad and his eyes still watery. 

“I’ll blame myself for what happen later, now we- I have to fulfill my mission and stop Hydra. That’s what I can do. What Bucky wanted too.” 

Tony nodded, then looked at the bar and moved to grab a bottle: he tried four times before managed to grab it. He smiled and placed it on the table when the other was, “And this might help.” 

Steve stared at it, then managed to smile a little, a sad smile, but somehow made both of them feel better, “Maybe…” he said, and then looked up at him, “Thanks for coming back.” 

Tony nodded again and took a deep breath, before a thought come to him: if Bucky was dead and Steve was going to destroy the Hydra bases still around, then he was going to fight Red Skull… he was going to be on the plane that crashed into the ocean. 

He suddenly moved to grab his arm and the soldier flinched a bit, looking at him, “You have to be careful.” 

“I’ll try to.” 

“I mean it. You have to…” and Tony stopped here: _you have to avoid any plane trip? You don’t have to fight Red Skull? You can’t die again… but what if I try to stop it?_

Steve was staring at him, now more serious, “This is still the part you can’t talk me about?” 

“I still don’t know.” 

“That’s not very helpful…” 

“You have to be careful. Promise me.” Tony said, and he couldn’t touch him anymore, “Promise me you’ll try your best, without stupid, heroic ideas.” 

Steve still looked unsure, and when he was going to say something, they heard someone from the entrance. 

Tony looked back, and there were suddenly trees in the ruins. “Oh, come on…”

*

Turning around, Captain America wasn’t there anymore, the entire bar wasn’t there, and more gunshots were echoing from the woods ahead. “Damn it!” Tony started running until he found another Hydra base half hidden inside a mountain, and Steve was there: he was fighting against lots of Hydra soldier, making his way to the center. It was a bit weird watching him fighting simple humans and not alien, in a new, more military-ish suit, similar to the last model he used in the future, with the mask covering half of his face… and he was fighting hard, until they surrounded him with absurd flamethrower and another horde of soldier arrived to capture him.

Tony waited in the distance, worried sick to spot a plane somewhere, but it should be fine… it has to be. He couldn’t just scream him to stop what he was doing because he feared to see him die at any moment… 

“I hate this place, I hate it.” Tony said trying to stay close, entering the base after a bit. He couldn’t leave Steve alone, not now. He may need help, he may wonder where his friendly ghost was and- and maybe he didn’t need help after all, hearing the sound of a battle starting outside; then even in front of him, he could hear screams, guns and people fighting. He kept running and turning another corner, Steve himself passed through him at full speed, “God- I’ll never get used to this.” Hissed Tony, hands on himself. 

“Tony what- this is not the time!” he said, running away. 

“Wait… Steve, hold on!” 

“I can’t, I have to stop him!”

Tony followed him through the tunnel, watching him smash his shield on some Hydra soldier’s face and throw the shield ahead to stop Red Skull, but halt himself when another big guy with a flamethrower appeared. 

“Stay back!” screamed Steve, covering into a doorstep. 

“Ghost, remember?” 

“Not all the time!” he shout back, then there were gunshots and the fuel reserve on the big guy’s back exploded… and Peggy Carter appeared, along with more American soldier. 

Steve reached her, a light smile of his lips, “You’re late.” 

Tony was walking ahead, spotting the shield stuck between the doors where Red Skull escaped. He looked back at the two and looked up at the sky, shaking his head.

“Weren’t you about to…?” she asked.

“Right.” Steve nodded and started running again, freeing the shield and the doors smashed closed. 

“Can’t you just kiss her already?” Said Tony, already waiting there for him. 

“Not now, Tony.”

“Some things really never change.” He sighed, running behind him. 

They reached a gigantic hangar full of soldier fighting. Tony was trying to follow, apparently being a ghost helped him not to hit anyone or being shot again, but he slowed down when he saw a plane in the distance, waiting… _the_ plane. He still remembered that thing, and the hours he had spent studying it. “Steve, wait-“ 

“He’s trying to escape, I have to stop him.” 

“I know but-“ 

“This is not your mission, Tony.” He simple said, running even faster when the plane started to move, ready to leave, and he still managed to punch and smash his shield on some Hydra soldiers while running ahead.

“That’s not the point- wait!” Tony wasn’t sure how, but even being a ghost, he was starting to run out of breath, “I have- to tell you… please…” He slowed down until he stopped completely, watching the plane moving too fast for him to reach anyway, and he almost sighed in relief… just when a car ran next to him, Peggy and another man on it, ready to get Steve on, “Oh, come on! Are you kidding me!?” he yelled, trying to follow. 

When he was on the road outside, the plane was already flying high in the sky, and Steve Rogers along with it. 

Still trying to regain some air, Tony looked at Peggy, “Why- how could you sent him alone in there? He’s going to- he will die because of you!” 

She blinked, and then looked back at him. Not through him, but actually at him, frowning. 

Tony stared back, coughing, and then…

*

Then he lost his balance and fell on a metal floor, feeling the gravity gone wild.

Tony looked around and saw the sky from a little window… he was on a plane. On the _damn_ plane. He tried to stand and walk to the pilot room, hearing sounds of a fight behind another metal door. He placed his hands on it and looked through the glass: Steve was there, still alive, still breathing, but he was staring at Red Skull that was keeping the Tesseract in his hand, then his scream echoed into the plane when the power of the relic started to illuminate everything, slowly absorbing the man. 

Tony blinked in surprise when he saw a breach into the ceiling, where he could see the space… almost like what he saw into the portal over New York. _You saw it too_ , he thought, looking briefly at Steve, then the breach was gone and Red Skull with it, the light slowly disappearing. Tony took a breath, and then hit the door, “Steve!” 

He blinked, looking back at him.

“We have to leave this plane! This-“

“I have to stop it.” Steve said, more to himself, running to the control panel. 

“No, listen to me- Steve, you have to leave!” Tony tried to push the door, but it was locked. “Why I can’t be a ghost when I need to, damn it!” he stared at the Captain sitting on the chair in front of the big window, the clouds ahead in front of him. Tony felt fear slowly crawling all over himself and then he saw it: Steve was looking down, working on the controls, but then he stopped and stared in front of him. “No, no- Steve, come on, you can still escape! Find a way!” 

Steve couldn’t probably hear him from there, because he kept staying there and after a moment he pushed down the cloche and the plane started to fall down. 

Tony hit the door with his head, then staring inside the room in fear and anger, “Steve, damn it, you don’t have to-“ but in a moment the Artic appeared in front of them and the hit was stronger than he could ever imagine. 

 

Opening his eyes, Tony was laying on the ground, his head hurting like hell… and there was a cracking sound all around. 

He tried to stand and blinked when he saw the metal door cracked open. Walking inside, there was still some lights from the window, but the plane was slowly sinking down into the water, and Captain America was still sitting on the pilot chair, his upper body sprawled over the controls. “Steve…hey…” Tony walked to him faster than he could and once there, he couldn’t touch him again, “Shit-” 

“Language...” Steve said, eyes half open. 

“Steve, you have to get up.” 

“Not sure… ‘bout that…” 

“Come on! I can’t do anything, you need to-“ and Tony saw his blonde hair now red on the side facing the controls, blood running silently over his neck and the buttons. He shivered only imagining what a crack it could be there, through his hair, “Steve come on, stand up!” 

The soldier took in a broken breath, “Sorry.” He managed to say, blinking slowly. 

“Don’t you dare faint on me! Don’t you dare…” Tony looked around, tried to grab him again, but without success. If he really was a ghost, he sure was a terrible one. He stared down at him, at the big window filled with cracks, ready to let water and ice enter the room, and then back at him. 

“Steve.” He said, crouching next to him, closer than he could, “Remember the thing I couldn’t tell you?” 

“Yeah…” 

“I come from the future.” 

Steve blinked slowly, but a bit more awake. 

“I don’t know why or how, but suddenly I was here- from the time you were a kid. You lived your entire life, but for me was just a second between every time we saw each other. I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t know- I still don’t know if telling you this now will change anything in my future… I don’t even know if there’s a future waiting for me anymore or- or if I’m really dead somewhere and I can’t even remember it, but-“ 

“We met? In- your future?” 

“Yes. We fought together, we won together and- and you hated me, but we… I like to think that we were friends. Kind of.” 

Steve smiled patiently, a cheek pushing over the controls, “Name?” 

“Tony. That was true. I’m Tony Stark.” And he saw him blink again, “Yeah, I’m Howard’s son.” 

Steve thought for a second before smile slightly, “Stank…” 

“Sorry about that.” 

“-‘fine.” 

Tony instinctively tried to grab his arm again, but it was still useless. He closed his hand in a tight fist and said, “We saved you from here. Seventy years from now, we will find you and you will be fine. We didn’t forget you.”

“…Peggy?” 

“She never forgot about you either. No one did. The whole country will remember you and- and Bucky and what you have done for us.” Tony distantly felt a tear running over his face, “I’m failing to save you once again, but I promise you, next time we meet, I won’t start fighting with you. You just have to wait, ok?” 

Steve closed his eyes, “…Ok.” 

Tony raised his hand again, just to stop the movement, angry with himself and everything. Then, he looked at the water covering the entire window now, leaving them into a growing darkness. “Ok.” He murmured, and closed his eyes when the ocean crashed inside the plane. 

 

****

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- 

****

**  
**

 

The strong smell of smoke and burning plastic was the first thing that hit him.   
Then the water dripping over him, like rain, that made him flinch awake as if he just got a bolt of electricity. 

Tony turned on his side, still feeling the water, before stumble, trying to get on his feet in the smoky place. There were some lights on… it was still the plane? 

“Sir, the fire have been stopped.” 

“JARVIS?” 

“Yes, sir?” 

Tony was breathing fast, walking around the place, trying to understand what had happened, randomly asking himself how JARVIS could work on a plane, in the ‘40s… then a series of punches somewhere made him jump. 

“Tony! What happened?” 

He turned in the smoke, eyes burning, but that was unmistakably Steve. He followed the voice, just to find another metal door locked. Shaking his head, Tony punched back on it, “Steve, you alright?” 

“Yes, why-“ 

“What year is this?” 

“What?” 

“Tell me what year is this!” If the answer would be the ‘40s, Tony was ready to scream... 

“2012.” Was the calm and serious answer. “Can you open the door?” 

Tony took a half-broken breath, head placed against the cold metal, “What about the plane crash?” 

“What plane crash?” 

“Your plane crash, in- into the ocean…” 

There was a moment of silence, then Steve voice was more serious, “You want to talk about that now? With you locked in the lab after an explosion?” 

“Tell me you were not alone.” Tony was crying, not fully realizing it, he just couldn’t stop it, “Tell me you remember… that I changed that-“ 

“Tony, listen-“ 

“because I tried, but I couldn’t do anything else. I was- I don’t know how, but I was there with you and- and the crash and t-the water was… oh God…” he still could hear the window of the plane break under the pressure of the ocean, and the cold, freezing air before the contact with the water. That sure wasn’t helping to control his rising panic.

Suddenly, the whole door started to vibrate, and after a second two hands made their way in the space between the two sides of it: Steve forced them open until they were bent aside, and he had only a second to look at the shaken and terrified inventor before Tony jumped to his neck, holding tightly on him. 

Steve blinked in surprise, still with a foot outside the lab, looking around the place that looked like a bomb exploded in there. He then looked down at the brown hair under his chin, trying to calm down himself as well because, based on Tony’s voice, he was ready to found him wounded or dying or something worst… but scared enough to cry and hug him like Captain America was the only thing that could save him? He wasn’t exactly ready for something like that, so he blinked again, confused, “Tony, what happened?” 

“I’m not a ghost?” 

“…No, you’re not.” 

“Then what am I now?” 

“Uh- I don’t… you’re Tony Stark. Iron Man?” 

Tony smiled a bit against him, probably forcing him to bend down, because he was still touching the floor with his feet. “You know me…” 

“Reading any magazine was enough to know that much, yeah.” 

“I wasn’t there with you in the crash, was I?” 

There was a moment of silence, then Steve said, “I doubt Howard was even thinking about getting married at the time.” 

“…I’m sorry.” 

“About what?” 

“I haven’t changed anything…” And Tony silently cried even more, hiding against him like a damn kid. 

Steve frowned, but there was also a light sadness in his eyes. He took another deep breath, slowly hugging him with an arm, “Kind of late for that, anyway, don’t you think?” 

_I seems to be always late when I shouldn’t be_ , Tony though, wishing for that hug to never end. 

 

Sadly, the hug ended at some point, and say that the moment they parted was incredibly awkward, wasn’t remotely enough to explain _how much_ awkward it was. 

Tony didn’t dared to look at the soldier while Steve offered to go downstairs together; he didn’t dared to look into the lab either, not yet, just following him in the kitchen, coughing sporadically, eyes sored almost as much as his feelings. 

After he sat down, when Steve moved away, he couldn’t stop himself from grab his arm again, just to be sure he was still real… one sure thing was, instead, the even more confused look on the soldier’s face. Tony forced himself to stare down at the floor and let him go. 

Steve gave him a glass of water, but after the third refill, Tony grabbed his arm again, this time using the bottle as an excuse, and kept the water for himself as if it was the Holy Grail. 

After a long moment of silence, a worried silence for Steve, an ashamed silence for Tony, the soldier asked, “You want to stay alone for a moment? I can call for someone?” 

Tony shook his head, feeling even worse. 

“You want to- you want me to ask JARVIS for what happened upstairs?” 

“No.” Tony took another sip, then a deep breath and finally looked up: Steve was sitting in the couch next to him, concern written on his face, with confusion as well, but there was no judging or disappointment in his eyes. “I think I remember… I just have to-“ Tony stood up slowly, gesturing to the lab with the bottle, then looked sideways at him, “You can… you want to…?” 

“Sure.” Steve was up and next to him in a moment. 

Tony nodded sheepishly and moved to the stairs, “J, how’s the situation?” 

“The fire was extinguished. The security protocol saved the latest projects and documents. The entrance’s door will need to be replaced.” 

“Sorry about that.” Commented Steve. 

Tony just shook his head and walked over the destroyed doors, looking inside: without the smoke, the water raining from the fire alarm and the fresh memory of a plane crash, he could see the mess that worried Steve so much. Most of the furniture were fine, but one side of the lab, on the right, was half-burned, a laptop’s screen exploded and the table cracked in the middle… that was the point where the reason of the explosion still was: Loki’s scepter. 

Tony looked down at it, shining there almost innocently, as if nothing happened. “JARVIS, call SHIELD. Tell them I am done with the scepter. I don’t want this thing here.” 

“Yes, sir.” JARVIS answered calmly, while Dum-E came slowly ahead. 

“Take it out of the way.” Tony said, dropping the bottle of water on the table, and the little machine grabbed the scepter with one of it’s mechanic arm and backed away. 

“You were experimenting with that?” Asked Steve, “That caused the explosion?” there was no anger in his voice, just the seriousness of the facts. 

“Yeah…” Tony crouched down, looking in the half-burned mess, “But…” he knew the scepter couldn’t make up all that time travel dream all by itself. Tony was careful about it, he remembered how carefully he was studying it that afternoon… he was missing something. 

“But there’s something else?” Steve came to his help. How good he was at follow so quickly other people’s thoughts, was almost scary, “The scepter was controlling you like it did with Clint or…?” 

“Not really.” Tony blinked at something on the floor and slowly understood. 

Steve was behind him when he turned and handed him something: a burned, cracked, little glass vial, the kind of stuff that Bruce left all over the lab. On that one in particular, was still visible half of the name: EVE ROGERS. He frowned and looked carefully at the inventor, “That was... the blood sample you asked me this morning?” 

“You don’t have a sister called Eve, right?” Tony said tiredly, but smiled a bit at the serious face of the soldier, “Yes. It was you blood. The half vial of it that you gave me.” 

“What were you doing with it?” 

“Nothing.” 

“You sure?” 

“Ok, I know what you’re thinking-“ 

“I am thinking that you never asked me about the plane crash, not the first time we met, not after the battle- or anything about my past at all.” Steve said, face impassible, “Suddenly the lab is on fire, the same day I gave you some of my blood, because I trusted you that much, and Loki scepter was here as well. I know what I should think about all this, and I am trying not to. Not yet.” 

Tony knew Steve wasn’t screaming about the desire to kill him only because he saw how much he panicked before. “I wasn’t using your blood. I was working on that thing-“ he said, sending a quick look at the scepter, “and I think… I don’t know, maybe I activated something and your blood was in the way.” He thrown the little piece of glass away. “I fainted and had this weird dream about me traveling back in time, in the past.” 

Steve frowned, “You traveled in the past?” 

“Your past.” Tony nodded, walking around the check the status of the lab. 

“My- sorry, what?” 

“You blood combined with the power of the scepter probably created this weird and very realistic dream with me walking around in the ‘40s. I saw you in different moments- I didn’t actually recognize you at first, but then I saw you in the cabin, when you became Captain America, so it was pretty clear that it was you.” He pushed some button and fresh air started to flow into the lab still smelling of smoke. 

“You were… you saw my memories?” asked Steve, coming a bit closer. 

“I didn’t mean to. I had no idea of what happened, I couldn’t remember anything. I think I was… kind of a ghost- you thought that I was hunting you.” He huffed a laugh, “No idea Captain America feared ghosts.” 

“I- I don’t… Tony, are you serious?” 

“Yeah. You didn’t knew me, of course, so I kind of keep jumping here and there in your timeline. I saw my dad, and Peggy Carter… and your friend too. I-“ Tony stopped for a second, remembering Steve sitting in the ruins of the London’s bar, “I made you company in some missions… you were really good, Cap.” 

Steve just stared at him, still not sure if this was all a joke, or how to react if it wasn’t. 

“I saw you fighting a bully. I saw you saving soldiers and- and the chorus girls, God all this worth just for watching you acting on a stage.” 

“Oh God…” Steve shook head, looking down, a hand over his face, trying to hide a slight blush. “And I- I talked to you?” 

“Yeah. You were very eager to help an almost ghost, actually. I was surprised.” Nodded Tony, “I’m also glad the suit evolved from that tight costume… and that you changed the shield too.”

“You… you were just spying on me.” 

“There was nothing else I could do. But don’t worry, I haven’t seen anything you should be ashamed of.” 

“What I should had been ashamed for in the ‘40s?” sighed patiently the soldier. 

“Well, that show was sure something.” 

“Kind of what you do every day, now, isn’t it?” Steve commented and scored the final point when Tony just stared at him with a light grin, raising his eyebrows with a shrug standing for _Touché_. “And when this… livid dream ended?” 

Tony looked down at the desk, the light smiled fading. “During your last mission. I saw your fight with Red Skull and… well, we know the end. The scepter stopped working there.” 

“You were on the plane?” Steve saw him nod, pretending to keep using the laptop, but his hands had stopped moving from some minute by now. 

“I couldn’t control when meet with you, but I was there at the end. I wasn’t sure of what was happening, so at first I didn’t tell you that I came from the future to not mess with the time- with _my_ time... But I decided to tell you the truth before we- before you… well…” he took in a shaken breath, “Turns out nothing was real. Good for us.” 

“You stayed with me all the time during the plane crash?” asked Steve, now worried, but also incredulous. 

Tony nodded slightly, “Until the water crashed in.” He looked at him, almost feeling bad for the sorrow in Steve’s eyes. “I tried to stop you, but you didn’t listened to me of course, and decided to land down… and I couldn’t enter the pilot room because I wasn’t a ghost, then I couldn’t help you out of it because I was, so I couldn’t touch you or anything else. I just... made you company until the end.” He shrugged to hide a shiver. “I had no idea what would happen to me, but your story was intact, so you would be fine.” 

“That’s why you keep touching me?” 

Tony wished for something else to explode right there, right now, “I was just… checking.” 

Steve huffed, then said, “And that’s why you asked me if I was alone during the crash.” 

“Well, I thought that maybe I actually changed that part, but I didn’t. And I’m sorry.” 

“Why you should be sorry?” 

“Because I wasn’t- because no one was there with you. You had to think that you were dying alone in there, and that’s… I just wish I could’ve changed that, at least.” 

“I’m glad that you weren’t there with me.” Steve said, voice calm, “Or someone else. Because no one would be able to survive. Without the serum, I would be dead too.”

Tony stared at him, tense at the possibility of the serum not working, leaving Steve dying inside the plane, no Captain America in the future, no second life for him.

“But you stayed with me.” Steve said after a moment, “And even if that was just a dream, don’t do it again, ok?” 

“Are you kidding?” 

“I had a mission, that time, Tony, I couldn’t leave. You should have.” 

“So you’re saying that in a situation like that one, I should just leave you to die and save myself? Every man for himself?” 

“Without other choice, yes, you should do that.” 

Tony was ready to start screaming, throwing to hell the promise he made to Steve in the dream… 

“But I know you wouldn’t leave... because I wouldn’t do that either.” Continued Steve, breathing deeply, “And I hope something like that will never happen, because if there’s something worse than die alone on a plane, it would be dying knowing that a friend will die with me.” His voice still calm, but there was a deep sadness into his eyes, the same sadness Tony saw in the London’s pub, “And we both are too eager to sacrifice ourselves.” He added with a little, bitter smile. 

Tony stared at him in silence. The terrible feeling of being useless he felt at the end of the dream pushed him to move and hug the Captain again, now almost angrily because yes, he knew he was right. Of course none of them would ever abandon a teammate… they fought only once together, but apparently was more than enough to know that. 

Steve huffed a little laugh, “Still checking that you’re not a ghost?” 

“Just to be sure.”

He sighed, feeling Tony’s hands grasp his t-shirt “I’m sorry that you had to see- to live the plane crash with me.” 

“You don’t remember any of it?” 

“I don’t recall of any ghost from the future, sadly.” 

“Very funny.” 

“Last thing I remember was the ice getting closer and closer… then I woke up seventy years later.” 

Tony thought for a moment, “So it can be true. Maybe I was there with you, you just can’t remember.” 

Another snort, “Really?”

“That would help you sleep a bit better?” 

“…Maybe.” 

“Then yes, really.”   
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END

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope Steve wasn't awake when the plane was sinking... ;-; .... 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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